Ensilage cutter attachment for tractors



Aug; 26, 1941. R. H. LINDHOLM ENSILAGE CUTTER ATTACHMENT FOR TRACTORSFiled March 22, 1940 5 Shee'ts-Sheet l In ventor Waymondflr M A tiomey1941- H. LINDHOLM 2,253,794

ENSILAGE CUTTER ATTACHMENT FOR TRACTOR-3' Filed March 22, 1940 5Sheets-Sheet 2 In ventor @mandIlZhd/ldlm 4 A tiomey 6, 1941- R. H.LINDHOLM 2,253,794

. ENSILAGE CUTTER ATTACHMENT FOR TRAC TORS Filed March 22, 1940 5Sheets-Shea 3 A iforney Aug. 26', 1941- R. H. LINDHOLM ENSILAGE CUTTERATTACHMENT FOR TRACTOR-S Filed March 22, 1940 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 I v v i;Inventor qy zandlflz'ndizazm 4/ Aiiorney Aug. 26, 1941, R. LINDHOLM v2,253,794

, ENSILAGE CUTTER ATTACHMENT FOR TRACTORS Filed March 22, 194058heets-Sheet 5 fig nondlizz'ndizofnz v Q By @4016 A tiorney Iriventor IV Patented Aug. 26, 1941 OFFICE ENSILAGE CUTTER ATTACHMENT FOB TRACTORSRaymond E. Lindholm, George West. Tex. Application Mai-ch22. 1940,Serial No. 325,457

. This invention relates to an ensilage cutter attachment for tractors,the general object of the invention being to provide means for cuttingthe corn or other material and conveying the material to a combinedcutter and blower casing where the material is cut into short lengthsand blown through a flexible stack into a wagon, truck or the like whichfollows the tractor.

Another object of the invention is to provide means for operating partsof the device from one part of the tractor and another portion of thedevice from another part of the tractor so that too much strain is notcarried by any one part of the tractor. This invention also consists incertain other features of construction and in the combination andarrangement of the several parts to be hereinafterfully described,illustrated in the accompanying drawings and specifically-pointed out inthe appended claims.

Indescribing the invention in detail, reference will be had to the?accompanying drawings wherein like characters denote like orcorresponding parts throughout the several views, and in which Figure lis a view looking toward one side of the tractor provided with theinvention.

Figure? is a similar view but with some of the parts removedand partsshown in section.

am- 1 i ai p j lan. i of i ure 1.

Figure 4 158; vertical" sectional view showing the cutting "feedingmeans. the section being taken onappro rimately'fthe line 4-4 .of Figure3 andwith parts omitted i Fi r .5 i an f i andtheguard'memberi F ure v6vYi's'jan elevat alvliew with parts in section showing" the belt andpulleys for driving thelcuttlng andfeeding rneans with the manual meansfor .'tijziiiigrmim;jan loosening the belt to makethe beltfacta'sclutcmeans.

ca sectional view through I er c showing the rotor thereinpthe sectionbein g' taken approxit lr a th lin -17: 9?

cutter member with a take-oil shaft 8 at one side thereof and a secondtake-off shaft 8' at its rear.

In carrying out the invention a frame F is attached to that side of thetractor opposite the side from which the take of! shaft S projects andthis frame supports the vertically arranged outer plate I and thevertically arranged inner plate 2 which are spaced apart to form apassage-'- way for receiving-the corn stalks or other material to becut. These plates are connected together at their upper ends by theinverted U-shaped bracket 3 and the outer plate has a longitudinallength which carries it from a point where its front edge issubstantially in line with the front of the tractor to a point adjacentthe rear of the tractor though the intermediate rear parts of the plateare of less height than the front part as shown at l' in Figure 1. Theinner plate 2 is also of considerable longitudinal length with a lowintermediate rear part as shown at 2' in Figure 2. The front edge of theplate I is curved outwardly and forwardly as shown at I" to deflect cornstalks or the like into the passage formed bythe plates I and 2 and thefront edge of plate 2 curves forwardly and inwardly as shown at 2" inFigure 3. The front I portions of the two plates are close together sothat the passage is narrow but the plates are.

' Figure 3.

Upper and lower sprocket wheels 5 are carried by the upper and lowerbrackets 8 attached to the front part of the tractor and these sprocketwheels are located slightly in advance of the Figure 8.11s a section othe line 8-4 of Figew; the blower and cutter-casing showing the winlet:opening therein.

-views the latter:T,-indicates a tractor to which' "thel inventi'onf'ismapplied, said tractor being of any suitable type though it isprovided by an outer part of the frame F and the upper front part of theinnerplate 2 and a vertically arranged shaft I is supported for rotarymovement from a side part of the tractor and the upper portion of theshaft carries the smaller upper and lower sprocket wheels 8' and teethcarrying endless chains 9 pass around the sprockets 8 and i with theirteeth I! acting to cause the corn stalks to be directed into the spacebetween the plates I and 2 and to pass along the space.

The shaft 1 is driven from a horizontal shaft II passing transverselyacross the tractor and the two shafts are connected together by thebeveled gears I! and said shaft II carries the pulley II to be driven bya belt I4 passing over 'a small pulley II on the shaft 8 of the tractor.

A vertically arrangedstub shaft I is-carried end of said shaft It hasattached thereto a disk cutter ll, see Figures 4 and 5, and the lowerpart of the plate I is formed with a casing-like enlargement II whichcovers the cutter II. The lower part of the" shaft 1 carries the spaceddisks ll into the space between which the cutter disk II extends andsaid disks II are provided with the fingers 20 which act to cause thestalks of corn C. see Figure 5, to be engaged by the cutter as thestalks are forced through the passage between the plates i and I by thefingers ill of the chains and, of course, as the tractor travels alonAfter the stalks are cut their butts are engaged by the fingers II on ashort endless chain 22 passing over a sprocket 28 on the lower part ofthe shaft 1 above the disks I! and over a smaller sprocket 24 on avertically arranged stub shaft 28 supported adjacent the bent part 4 ofthe inner plate 2, as shown in Figure 3. These fingers 2i carry thestalks upon a conveyor 20 composed of a pair of endless members andcross strips and located in the wide part of the passage formed by theplates l and 2 and this conveyor 28 carries the stalks which are now ina substantially horizontal position between the toothed upper-and lowerrollers 21 which feed the stalks through an inlet opening 2. in avertically arranged substantially circular casing is supported at therear of the tractor by a part of the frame. A flexible stack or spout 30extends upwardly from a top part of the casing at one side thereof andthis spout is held in adjusted position by means of the link Iiconnected to the top of the spout and adjustably connected at its lowerend to a part of the tractor, the outlet of the spout or stack extendingrearwardly so that it will discharge the cut material into a wagon ortruck following the tractor. A shaft 32 extends through the rear wall ofthe casing 29 and within the casing it is attached to a disk 33 whichcarries on its periphery the fan blades 34 and at the front of the diskit is provided with the supporting members 35 to which the plates 38 areattached and each plate carries a knife 31 by means of bolts 38 passingthrough slots 39 in the blade or knife. Each plate 36 also carriesscrews 4| which can be adjusted to adjust the blade or knife on theplate so that the knives or blades can be adjusted to cut the cornstalks or other matter in the desired lengths.

The shaft 32 is connected by the chain and sprockets shown generally at4i with the shaft 8' at the rear of the tractor.

The front shaft 43 of the conveyor 26 is driven by chain and sprocketmeans shown generally at 44 from the shaft II, the sprocket on the shaftH being shown at 44. A sprocket 45 on the front shaft of the conveyor 28hasa chain 46 passing thereover which also passes over a sprocket 41 ona shaft 44 supported in any suitable manner from the upper edges of theplates l and 2 at the rear thereof and this chain engages a sprocket ona suitably supported shaft 4! which has a second sprocket l0 thereonover which a chain ll passes and this chain also passes over a sprocket52 connected with the shaft of the upper roller 21. The lower roller 21is rotated from the rear shaft 53 of the conveyor 2| by the chain andsprocket means shown generally at B4 in Figures 1 and 3.

As shown in Figure 6 the belt i4 before passing over the small pulley ISon shaft 8 passes first over a small roller or pulley IS on a lever 80which is placed rearwardly of the shaft 8 and then the belt passesaround the pulley II and then it passes rearwardly over a lower rolleror pulley 51 on the lever 88. This lever is pivoted at its lower end toa bracket 54 attached to a part of the tractor and a link so connectsthe top of the lever to a hand lever 60 pivoted to a part of the tractorand arranged adjacent the driver's seat ll of the tractor. Thus thedriver or operator of the tractor can by manipulating the lever 60adjust the lever I. to tighten and loosen the belt I4 on the pulley llso. that these parts act as clutch means for driving'the large pulley Ifon shaft II from the take-oi! shaft 5.

From the foregoing it will be seen that as the tractor travels along thecorn stalks are caused to pass into the space formed by the front endsof the plates I and 2 with the stalks being forced through the space bythe teeth I of the chains I. The stalks are then cut by the cutting diskI! which cooperates with the disks l9 and the fingers 20 thereon andthen the stalks fall upon the conveyor 28 which carries them to thefeeding rolls 2'! where the stalks enter the casing 29 through theopening 28 and in this casing the stalks are cut into small lengths asthey enter the casing and the air created by the fan blades forces thecut particles through the stack or chute 30 into the wagon, truck or thelike following the tractor. Thus the corn is cut and then cut into smallpieces to make the ensilage so that the ensilage can be carried directlyto a silo.

In some cases a corrugated roller 49 may be attached to the shaft 49, asshown in Figure 2, to facilitate the feeding of the cut material on theconveyor 26.

It is thought from the foregoing description that the advantages andnovel features of the invention will be readily apparent.

It is to be understood that changes may be made in the construction andin the combinatlon and arrangement of the several parts pro- .vided thatsuch changes fall within the scope of the appended claims.

Having described the invention, what is claimed as new is:

1. In an ensilage cutter attachment for a tractor provided with twotake-off shafts, such attachment including gathering means, cuttingmeans, conveying means and chopping means, means for actuating thegathering means, cutting means and conveying means from one takeoifshaft and means for actuating the chopping means from the secondtake-off shaft.

2. An ensilage cutter attachment for a tractor comprising a horizontalframe at one side of the tractor and supported from the tractor, a pairof vertically arranged plates rising from the frame, the outer platebeing substantially straight and extending longitudinally of the tractorwith its front end curving outwardly, the inner plate having its frontportion spaced from the front portion of the outer plate with its frontend curving inwardly and spaced rearwardly of the plane of the front endof the outer plate, an intermediate portion of the inner plate extendingsubstantially transversely toward the tractor with the rear portion ofthe inner plat paralleling the rear portion of the outer plate andspaced a considerable distance therefrom to form a space for conveyingmeans, upper and lower sprockets supported from the tractor and locatedin front of the front end of the inner plate, a vertically arrangedshaft supported from the frame and placed between the inner plate andthe tractor, sprockets on said shaft, endless chains passing over thesprockets of the two sets and having outwardly extending fingersthereon,

the inner plate having longitudinally extending slots in its frontportion through which the fingers pass and means for rotating the shaftfrom a part of the tractor.

3. An ensilage cutter attachment for a tractor comprising a horizontalframe at one side of the tractor and supported from the tractor, a pairoi vertically arranged plates rising from the frame, the outer platebeing substantially straight and extending longitudinally of the tractorwith its front end curving outwardly, the

inner plate having its front portion spaced from the front portion ofthe outer plate with its front end curving inwardly and spacedrearwardly of the plane of the front end of the outer plate, anintermediat portion of the inner plate extending substantiallytransversely toward the tractor with the rear portion of the inner plateparalleling the rear portion of the outer plate and spaced aconsiderable distance therefrom to form a space for conveying means,upper and lower sprockets supported from the tractor and located infront of the front end of the inner plate, a vertically arranged shaftsupported from th frame and placed between the inner plate and thetractor, sprockets on said shaft, endless chains passing over thesprockets of the two sets and having outwardly extending fingersthereon, the innerplate having longitudinally extending slots in itsfront portion through which the fingers pass and means for rotatin theshaft from a part of the tractor, a vertically arranged stub shaftsupported from. the frame in rear of the first-mentioned shaft, asprocket on the stub shaft, a sprocket on the lower part 2,253,794 13 ofthe first-mentioned shaft, an endless chain frame, the outer "platebeing substantially straight and extending longitudinally of the tractorwith its front .end curving outwardly, the inner plate having its frontportion spaced from the front portion of the outer plate with its frontend curving inwardly and spaced rearwardly of the plane of the front endof the outer plate, an intermediate portion of the inner plate extendingsubstantially transversely toward the tractor with the rear portion ofthe inner plat paralleling the rear portion of the outer plate andspaced a considerable distance therefrom to form a space for conveyingmeans, upper and lower sprockets supported from the tractor and locatedin front of the front end of the inner plate, a

vertically arranged shaft supported from the frame and placed betweenthe inner plate and the tractor, sprockets on said shaft, endless chainspassing over the sprockets of the two sets and having outwardlyextending fingers thereon, the inner plate having longitudinallyextending slots in its front portion through which the fingers pass, andmeans for rotating the shaft from a part of the tractor and a horizonetally arranged housing extending outwardly from the lower part of theouter plate adjacent the lower end of the shaft forreceiving cuttingmeans.

RAYMOND H. LINDHOLM.

